


All I want for Christmas...

by StrangeNoise



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Buying gifts, Christmas, Could be crack but it's actually cute, Established Relationship, Fluff, Insecurity, Kissing, M/M, Mariah Carey should probably be tagged as a character in this, Nines' POV, RK900's name is Nines, Ridiculous Gifts, SO MUCH FLUFF, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, being in love, happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21951817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangeNoise/pseuds/StrangeNoise
Summary: Ben and Nines have been in a relationship for several months now. With Christmas fast approaching, Nines knows he has to find the perfect gift for his partner. Unfortunately, finding such a gift proves to be harder than first anticipated...
Relationships: Ben Collins/Upgraded Connor | RK900
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	All I want for Christmas...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Katychouki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katychouki/gifts).



> This is my Secret Santa gift for lovely @DuwangP on twitter for the Detroit: Become Secret Santa exchange! It was a lot of fun working on this, exploring a new ship and I hope they like it despite it being a little ridiculous :D

Far more insecure than he would like to be Nines entered the mall and was immediately overwhelmed by the onslaught of bright lights and loud noises. Every surface seemed to be decorated with flashy lights advertising the products sold inside the various shops. Gigantic star-shaped lamps hung from the ceiling and Christmas trees with their branches hanging low from how many fairy lights they were covered in were posted on every corner. Cheery holiday tunes interspersed by the occasional advertisement were blaring from the overhead speakers and the only noise that could drown them out was the sound of thousands of voices talking over each other all around the mall.

After thirty seconds of taking this in, Nines was ready to turn on his heel and leave. But he had come here to complete a very important mission: Find a Christmas present for his partner, Detective Ben Collins.

_The human and the android had worked together occasionally ever since Nines’ activation and had gotten along quite well from the get-go. Ben was a far more patient man than Nines’ partner at work, Gavin Reed. Whenever Nines upset someone due to his lack of social protocols, Ben would go out of his way to explain his faux pas to the android whenever he could. Nines had appreciated that kindness immensely and had begun thanking Ben by buying him little gifts to show his gratitude. Most of the time it had been little things like a coffee from a coffee shop nearby or a type of candy he had learned Ben liked. But these small gestures of kindness towards each other had been the start of something bigger and more beautiful than either had ever experienced before._

_One day Ben had invited Nines for coffee to a place that sold a new kind of thirium drink that Nines had been wanting to try for a while. The fact that Ben remembered Nines talking about it warmed the android more than the invitation itself, so of course he accepted. More invitations like this had followed and Nines enjoyed all of them thoroughly. Spending time with Ben became his favorite thing to do and Ben became the person Nines preferred to do things with. Of course, that hadn’t gone unnoticed and when he told Connor one day that he was going to a restaurant with Ben again, his predecessor had asked if they were dating._

_The question had thrown Nines for a loop and he had been out of it for most of his walk to the café and as much as he tried to hide it once he was there with Ben, it must have been quite obvious that something was bothering the android. What had followed was a long, heartfelt conversation at the end of which Nines suddenly had a boyfriend and was happier than he had ever felt before in all of his existence._

_Sure, it hadn’t always been smooth sailing since then. There were differences between androids and humans that needed to be bridged as well as two very different people, who searched for a way to fit together. Many times Nines had been frustrated with his lack of social protocols and how much longer it took him to adapt to humans than it ever had for Connor. But Ben had not been angry or frustrated with him in all that time. He had always taken his time to make sure Nines was comfortable and happy and patiently helped Nines through all problems they had encountered in their time together._

Nines valued Ben’s support greatly and felt that the way his partner treated him had had a massive impact in making him the person he was today. Therefore, his gift for Ben had to be perfect. It had to show Nines’ love, appreciation and gratitude but shouldn’t be too kitschy either because the android doubted the detective would appreciate that very much. Nines had spent the past weeks analyzing what Ben liked best. He knew his video, book and music collection by heart to be able to find something he would like but avoid getting Ben something he already had. With all this information it shouldn’t be too hard to find a gift for his boyfriend, Nines thought.

But two hours later saw him disappointed and demotivated. Apparently, he had miscalculated. After he had worked through the overwhelming amount of music, lights and people, he had methodically worked through the stores that seemed to be most promising in accomplishing his task. And he had even found some things he thought Ben would like but none of it felt like _the one_ gift Nines wanted to get his partner. Something was always off. It was too expensive, too much, not enough, too kitschy, not meaningful enough. Nines felt like screaming from frustration – which was a pretty terrifying experience for the android, given he still had some problems emoting properly every now and again.

And now, two hours after he arrived, Nines had visited all the promising stores and then some without success. He had been in almost every shop from bookstores to boutiques to electronic stores. Nothing had piqued his interest for long. The android already thought about consulting the web or his predecessor on how to find a nice gift for a partner but he was not in the mood to admit defeat just yet. Besides, doing research, as helpful as it often was, made Nines feel like he was failing at “humaning”, as Connor liked to put it. He wanted to make human experiences and learn for himself whenever possible. Sometimes, that was harder than expected, though.

Nines wandered aimlessly through the vast hallways of the mall until he stopped in front of a shop that sold clothes that were clearly targeted towards people in their twenties. The store was colorful and so were the items inside. The android almost passed it without a second glance but then he caught sight of a large sign that said “ _it’s sweater weather!_ ” and the sweaters that were hanging just underneath it. They were what humans lovingly referred to as “ _ugly Christmas sweaters_ ” – a tradition that Nines would probably never understand.

But he knew that Ben had a collection of such sweaters because he had shown them to the android proudly. Ben had even announced wanting to wear one of them to the upcoming DPD Christmas party, much to Nines’ confusion. But even if the android didn’t understand this particular tradition, maybe he could find something inside the store that Ben would like. An addition to his beloved sweater collection might be appreciated.

A minute later, Nines looked at an array of sweaters with Christmas motives on it that were so bright and ghastly he was surprised his HUD wasn’t displaying warnings that he was going to cause permanent damage to his eyes if he kept looking at them directly. For Ben, Nines would even endure that, though. He looked through the various designs and prints until his eyes fell onto a bright red sweater. It had the pixelated face of a singer on it. A quick online search told Nines that it was supposed to be Mariah Carey. Above the cartoony pixel-face, the words “ _All I want for Christmas is you_ ” were written. And that was what made Nines’ thirium pump beat harder from excitement.

The words immediately caused a song to play in his head. He had heard it at least a hundred times in the past two months. Every radio station seemed to be obsessed with it. Almost every day on his way to or from work with Ben, they had heard it on the radio in the car. And every time, without fail, Ben would turn up the volume and hum or sing along. Nines didn’t much care for the song itself but the fact that Ben enjoyed it so much always made something inside him feel very warm and very soft.

Nines stared at the ugly sweater, mesmerized, and suddenly he knew he had found the perfect gift for his partner. It fit his love for both the song and ugly Christmas sweaters and also had a heartfelt sentiment on it that, at least for Nines, was true. When Ben had asked what Nines wanted for Christmas almost a week ago, the android had had no idea. He was still finding out what he liked and disliked and if he was honest, he hadn’t even thought about buying or receiving gifts on Christmas Eve. Obviously, he knew it was a tradition among humans but the idea that Ben would like to participate had somehow never crossed Nines’ mind.

_“I don’t think I need anything”, he had said slowly, “Spending time with you is what I enjoy most.” It had earned him a smile and a kiss but also an exasperated sigh and a mock-complaint from Ben that Nines was making things more difficult than they had to be._

After his odyssey at the mall Nines finally knew what his partner had meant by that. But now he had found the thing he wanted to give to Ben. It was awfully kitschy but didn’t seem like too much to the android. It combined many things Ben liked – ugly sweaters, that particular song, comfortable loungewear – and it wasn’t too much either. More than satisfied with himself, Nines picked a sweater in Ben’s size and carried it over to the cash register. He was sure he was about to buy the perfect gift.

By the time Christmas Eve came around, Nines was less sure. He had told Connor about his gift and his predecessor had not exactly seemed thrilled. Nines hated how much that got to him but he couldn’t help it. His thirium pump picked up its pace over the course of chatting over dinner with Ben and by the time his boyfriend was done, Nines was sure he looked like he was about to jump right out of his synth skin. There was no going back anymore, though. With a strained smile, he put the neatly wrapped gift down in front of Ben and looked at him expectantly.

“You go first”, Ben insisted and put his gift down in front of Nines. At first, the android wanted to argue but then he decided to simply do as his partner had asked. Firstly, he didn’t want to start a fight and secondly, if he protested it could take longer for him to see Ben’s reaction to his gift than unwrapping his and seeing Ben get to his gift right after.

So Nines methodically unwrapped the package Ben had given him. There was a slight tremor in his hands. Something that shouldn’t exist in an android, least of all a state-of-the-art prototype as himself. But Nines was sure that since deviating he had developed in ways far different from what his creators had intended in worse ways than shaking with excitement caused by an overload of emotions. Opposite him, Ben watched him with his cup of eggnog in hand and a soft, patient smile on his face.

Finally, Nines had taken enough of the wrapping paper away to be able to see the item Ben had gotten him – and he was pretty sure that his thirium pump stopped for several seconds at the sight of it. Wrapped in the bright red paper with cartoon snowmen on it was an equally red sweater with the pixelated face of Mariah Carey on it and the words “ _All I want for Christmas is you_ ” on it.

“Are you alright?”, Ben asked after a moment, seeming slightly nervous. Nines couldn’t hold it against him because he was quite sure his face had just gone through approximately 16 different emotions in just under two seconds.

“If you don’t like it, I can return it”, Ben continued almost instantly, not waiting for Nines’ reaction for once, “I just thought you might like it since you said you didn’t have any ugly Christmas sweaters. You looked so upset the day of the Christmas party when you were the only one in a shirt and tie. It’s a little late for this year’s party but I thought maybe next year…” Ben trailed off, a dark blush spreading all over his face and up to the tips of his ears. Nines thought that he looked positively adorable. And he felt bad for causing his partner such grief. So he quickly took control over his facial expressions again.

“I love it”, he said truthfully but unable to hide a chuckle as he gestured towards the package in front of Ben, “But you’ll understand my reaction once you open your Christmas present.”

Ben raised a brow and put down his cup. He took the package, wrapped in dark green paper with Christmas trees on it and tore at the paper with much less finesse than Nines had done. Mere seconds later, he held his own version of the Mariah Carey Christmas sweater in hand. Ben looked at Nines with a disbelieving look for a second, then burst into a deep, heartfelt laugh that came right from his belly. Nines couldn’t help but join in. Seeing Ben happy made him happy too. Together, they laughed for several long seconds and by the time they calmed down, tears were running down Ben’s face.

“I can’t believe this”, he hiccupped, looking at the sweater, then at Nines and back, “It’s our first Christmas together and we get each other the exact same dumb sweater.”

“You were so happy when you talked about your collection of ugly sweaters”, Nines explained with a soft smile, “And you kept humming the song since a little after Halloween. I noticed you even turning up the radio whenever it was on so I assumed you liked it and when I saw the sweater I thought it would only be fitting.”

“You’re incredible”, Ben said and shook his head, still smiling brightly, “I should’ve known you’d notice how much I love that stupid song. It’s been around for decades and everyone else I know hates it by now. But I guess you haven’t been around long enough to know how exhausting it can be to listen to it each and every day for two months straight every year. Maybe you’ll hate it too one day…”

“The song reminds me of you. I doubt I could ever hate it”, Nines replied easily and the smile Ben gave him at that made his core temperature rise a good two or three degrees.

“I’m not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse”, the Detective said before putting the sweater back down on the table and then leaning across it to be closer to Nines, “But I love the sweater and I love you. Thank you so much for this beautiful gift.”

Before Nines could say anything, Ben had moved even closer and pressed his lips to the android’s in a soft, gentle kiss. Nines let himself sink into it and returned the kiss eagerly. It had taken him quite a while to get used to the amount of physical intimacy humans in love liked to exchange but he and Ben had found a comfortable level by now and these days the android reveled in every touch and hug and kiss. The feeling of Ben’s lips on his, his mustache making the sensors above Nines’ upper lip go crazy was something the android had felt a hundred times over these past months. And yet he catalogued it again and again because every time it was just that little bit different and he wanted to remember every single thing perfectly.

By the time they broke their kiss, Nines was slightly dizzy with the speed at which he saved every emotion and sensation to his permanent memory. In front of him, Ben got to his feet with a strange expression on his face.

“I almost forgot the other gift!”, the man exclaimed and hurried over to the fridge. Nines raised a brow but simultaneously realized that he had probably just found the reason Ben had been so fiercely guarding the fridge for the past days. Every time Nines had offered to get the Detective something out of it, the man had declined and gone to retrieve it himself. Nines had thought it strange but never questioned it, writing it off as humans just being strange sometimes. But now Ben returned with a small, blue box that he put down in front of the android and Nines knew that this was what the man had been trying to prevent him from seeing. There was no way Nines wouldn’t have found it in the fridge had he looked inside of it.

Carefully, the android opened the box and found it filled with thirium candy. It was the same dark blue as the ones he usually bought when he was at the café with Ben but Nines knew for a fact that the café didn’t sell their candy in bulk – a fact he had bemoaned before – and besides that, the candy didn’t look anywhere near as perfect as the one from the café usually did. There, androids prepared the candy and it came out perfectly every time. These ones had to have been made by a human and there was only one, who would do such a thing for Nines.

“I know they don’t look as perfect as the ones you usually get”, Ben said, a sheepish expression on his face, “But Connor helped me make them and he promised they would taste just the same. So in case you can overlook some slight imperfections…”

Without answering, Nines popped a piece of candy into his mouth and it melted on his tongue. Ben was right. It _did_ taste just as amazing as it did at the café and Nines loved every second of it, chasing the taste and letting out a contented hum.

“They are perfect. Just like you”, he told Ben before gently pulling him down into a kiss by the collar. Ben went with a bright, happy smile on his face and Nines wasn’t sure he could get any happier than this without imploding.

After they exchanged some more kisses and Nines had as many pieces of candy as his thirium reservoirs could safely hold, he and Ben retreated to the couch to cuddle for a bit before heading to bed. Ben’s huge, white Persian, Daisy, joined them and watched them from her favorite spot on the other end of the couch.

“I’ve been thinking”, Ben said after a while and Nines lifted his head from his partner’s shoulder to look at him. His stress levels were relatively low but he seemed excited so the android got curious too.

“I mean…Christmas is technically over in a few days and our sweaters will be out of season”, Ben continued and couldn’t contain a grin, “But what if we wore them at Hank’s and Connor’s at their New Year’s Eve party? It’s not every year you and your partner get each other the exact same ridiculous sweater. I think we should make use of that. If you want, that is…”

“That sounds amazing”, Nines agreed immediately, feeling a tentative smile break out on his face too, “Connor will be so jealous!” His predecessor had told him time and again how he tried to get Hank to wear matching clothes but the lieutenant protested every time. Showing up at their party in matching outfits surely would be very entertaining.

“It’s settled then”, Ben concluded happily. Nines nodded, then burrowed closer to Ben, hiding a big, goofy smile against the side of his neck. He knew he didn’t have to but Nines sometimes got embarrassed about his more lively expressions. His facial expressions matrix wasn’t as great as Connor’s and sometimes the faces he did came out wrong. Ben usually told him it was not a big deal but it still made the android self-conscious. The detective knew and gently squeezed his shoulder in a reassuring gesture. Nines’ thirium pump threatened to jump out of his chest from how much affection he felt and he wrapped his arms tightly around Ben to squeeze him back.

If anyone had told Nines on the day of his activation that he would be here just a few short months later, he wouldn’t have believed a single word. But here he was, thoroughly happy and in the arms of the man he loved on Christmas Eve and he couldn’t ask for a single thing. The Mariah Carey lyrics from his sweater came to mind and Nines’ smile widened even more as he thought of this thing he now shared with Ben. Deviancy had worked in mysterious ways but it had brought Nines to a place, where he was unconditionally happy. And if that place would forever be associated with the lyrics to Ben’s favorite Christmas song – so be it. To Nines, everything was just perfect.

Warming himself with how happy he was, Nines sighed contentedly against the soft skin of Ben’s neck and allowed himself to float in his emotions as he slowly drifted off into stasis…

**Author's Note:**

> There we are! Hope everyone and most of all my giftee enjoyed! I wish you all happy holidays full of relaxation and yummy food!  
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated or come say hi on twitter @NoiseStrangest


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